Conference Series on Aging in the America: United States and Mexico

描述(由申请者提供)：拟议的一系列会议讲习班旨在提高墨西哥裔老龄人口研究的知名度，正值这一主题成为关键的国家预算和政策问题之时。该提案的优势在于，会议系列和配套的一系列研讨会首次汇集了新出现的研究，这些研究表明，社会、心理和生物因素如何深刻影响墨西哥原住民晚年的健康和长期护理。会议系列的一个重要目标是确定西班牙裔健康、残疾和疾病行为方面的差异。健康差距是复杂和多方面的，这是一个相对公认的原则，理解它们意味着抓住生物学和行为之间的交集。因此，我们希望开始一项跨学科的讨论，探讨影响老年墨西哥裔美国人健康和机能的独特情景因素和文化行为。沿着这些跨学科路线进行的研究将为与疾病预防有关的具体公共卫生干预措施提供信息，并确定公共卫生系统的改进，以保护年迈的拉美裔美国人的健康。会议系列的最终目标是就确保美国墨西哥血统个人健康老龄化的最佳手段达成共识。拉美裔，特别是墨西哥裔，正在重新塑造美国的人口构成。拉美裔是美国增长最快的人口群体，原因是来自墨西哥和其他拉丁美洲国家的移民人数较多，而且与非拉美裔白人和非裔美国人相比，生育率更高(Tienda和Mitchell，2006)。2000年，拉美裔美国人成为美国最大的少数民族群体。拉美裔人口已达3600万人，占美国人口的近13%。墨西哥裔拉美裔美国人占3600万人的一半以上(美国人口普查局，2003年)。此外，拉美裔人口正在老龄化，由于他们的健康问题和长期的医疗需求，这一群体的健康和福祉正迅速成为一个关键的公共政策问题(Angel和Hogan，2004)。一个专门关注增加对墨西哥裔人口老龄化过程的学术研究的会议系列是至关重要的。我们相信，这一系列会议将对知识库做出实质性贡献，填补有关美国老年群体研究不足的重大信息真空。该系列的共识目标将为NIH 2010年健康人倡议提供信息，该倡议旨在创建旨在确定对健康的最重大可预防威胁的国家健康目标，并制定减少这些威胁的国家目标。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed series of Conference workshops aims at increasing the visibility of research on aging Mexican- origin people and comes at a time when the topic is emerging as a crucial national budget and policy issue. The strength of the proposal is that the Conference Series and accompanying set of workshops bring together, for the first time, emerging research that demonstrates how social, psychological, and biological factors profoundly impact the health and long-term care of Mexican-origin people in late life. An important objective of the Conference Series is to identify disparities in Hispanic health, disability, and illness behavior. It is a relatively well-accepted tenet that health disparities are complex and multifaceted, and to understand them means grasping the intersection between biology and behavior. Thus, we hope to begin an interdisciplinary discussion of the unique situational factors and cultural behaviors that interact to impact the health and functioning of aging Mexican Americans. Research along these interdisciplinary lines will inform specific public health interventions related to disease prevention and identify improvements to public health systems that will protect the health of aging Hispanics. The ultimate objective of the Conference Series is to develop a consensus on the best means of insuring healthful aging of individuals of Mexican ancestry in the United States. Hispanics, especially those of Mexican ancestry, are re-shaping the demographic composition of the U.S. Hispanics are the fastest growing demographic group in the country, due to high immigration from Mexico and other Latin American countries, as well as higher fertility rates compared with non-Hispanic Whites and African-Americans (Tienda and Mitchell, 2006). In 2000, Hispanics became the nation's largest minority category. The Hispanic population has reached 36 million people, representing nearly 13 percent of the U.S. population. Mexican-origin Hispanics represent over half of that 36 million (U.S. Census Bureau, 2003). Moreover, the Hispanic population is aging, and as a result of their health issues and long-term medical needs, the health and wellbeing of this group is fast becoming a critical public policy concern (Angel and Hogan, 2004). A Conference Series focused specifically on increasing scholarly research into the aging process of the Mexican-origin population is vital. We believe this Conference Series will make a substantive contribution to the knowledge base, filling a significant vacuum of information on an understudied group of aging Americans. The consensus objective of the Series will inform the NIH Healthy People 2010 initiative to create national health objectives designed to identify the most significant preventable threats to health and to establish national goals to reduce these threats.